Polish and Israeli presidents lead March of the Living at Auschwitz

OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — The Polish and Israeli presidents joined thousands of Israeli youth and others in an annual march Thursday at the former Auschwitz death camp on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The group included Holocaust survivors and former Israeli hostages who were captured by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip, organizers said.

Every year young Israelis, many with their national flag around their shoulders, are among those making the March of the Living to remember the victims of the Holocaust. It is part of a larger educational effort to instill in them an appreciation for Israel, a haven for Jews after the genocide in Europe during World War II.

The march’s traditional 3-kilometer (2-mile) route leads from Auschwitz’s infamous “Arbeit macht frei” (works sets you free) gate to Birkenau, a site with the ruins of crematoria where Jews and others were murdered.

Polish President Andrzej Duda and his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, spoke to reporters ahead of the march, describing their presence as part of an effort to stand against antisemitism.

The Nazi German forces ran the camp in occupied Poland during World War II. They killed some 1.1 people there, the vast majority of them Jews from across Europe, but also Poles, Roma and others.

The camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on Jan. 27, 1945. The 80th anniversary was marked at the site earlier this year.

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland's President Andrzej Duda shake hands with his Israel's counterpart Isaac Herzog as they meet in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Israel's President Isaac Herzog holds a statement to media in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland's President Andrzej Duda, center right, and his Israel's counterpart Isaac Herzog, center left, meet with holocaust survivors at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau before the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People place massages while attending the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People place massages while attending the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims, at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland's President Andrzej Duda, right, and his Israel's counterpart Isaac Herzog arrive at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau to attend the "March of the Living", the annual Holocaust remembrance event in memory of the six million Holocaust victims in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)